large society there must always be cabals and caballers, one or two persons sent to Coventry by the rest for no very good reason: the persecutors having all the fun, and the persecuted perhaps meeting with little pity.

Our party at Norbury, however, on the whole did very well, at least to all outward appearance; le dessous des cartes was not seen, and it was of little consequence if one or two, more penetrating than the rest, saw through the veil which general politeness cast over every thing and every body.

Lady Norbury pronounced the party quite delightful! so perfectly exclusive! Her ladyship seemed to feel the truth of what lady Birmingham had once very vulgarly expressed, 'We people of fashion ought to be all acquainted; and yet lady Norbury thought the Derwents perfect humdrums. The duke was such a cipher, his whole life seemed to be a course of civility, he was always of your opinion:-what could be so insipid? The dutchess was a precieuse, a raisonneuse, too good by half-Lady Norbury thought she must be a methodist. She was always in a state of probation, as if saying or doing disagreeable things was a virtue. Lady Mary was better, but such a Goth in her ideas, so unlike most young women of fashion, the countess had no patience with her. Then, above all things, her ladyship hated blues: so lady Tresilian could find no favour with her. Lord Tresilian might be wiser, perhaps, but he was full as dull as his father, and twice as ugly.

Then Lord Glenmore was sadly changed from what he used to be; grown quite rustic, and so ridiculously taken up with such a little baby of a wife! Perhaps she might be called pretty, but she was so very young, so insignificant. Then such a fuss about her situation; if she was so delicate, why did not she stay at home till she had produced an heir? Such were the countess's observations in a letter she wrote to Miss Maria Molyneaux.

How angry would lady Norbury have been, had she seen an other, which lord Hazlemere wrote during his visit to Norbury, to his dear friend lady Hauton, in which he said,

'Nothing can be so wretchedly dull as my sejour here, at your good uncle's; a sort of apeing of ton throughout the whole business, which, as your ladyship knows, cannot be caught. The earl talking big; the countess so cold, si glaciale in all her ways, perfectly odious, acting the grande dame de chateau. Then all the old tapesty of the county turned out, to make a grand partythe Derwents and Tresilians;-you may imagine how I am déplace'd among such high mightinesses, such wise heads. Lady Anne is just now radiant in beauty, throwing herself away on that creature Dorville; she is ruining in this set; we should really try to emancipate her. She has a formidable rival here, in a pretty Miss Mildmay, an H-shire Miss, it seems; a mere nobody; but she has been much abroad, and has got that air, qu'on ne

prend qu'à Paris. She is to be in town, with the new Austrian ambassadress: I am sure she will take: I recommend your ladyship to produce her at Almacks, she will do you credit, and you know que je m'y connois. There is also a certain colonel Montague here, brother to this same ambassadress: all the world seem to adore him; and so, of course, I cut the man, and hate him. He is a sort of person I make a rule to avoid, who always appears to look above you.

'My uncle Glenmore, the stern patriot, the man of the people, the political hero,-thinks of nothing but his little wife and his expected heir:-and what is more, I do not wonder at him; for indeed, lady Glenmore would turn any man's head with her beauty and innocence. I should find no difficulty in falling desperately in love with her myself; indeed, I wish for no better amusement; and when once the precious child is born, she will have plenty of time on her hands. Conceive my feelings as I walk about the woods at Glenmore, which I have so long looked upon as my own, while my infatuated uncle talks to me as if he hoped to have a dozen children. Mordaunt is here, doing nothing; what can he mean? He knows Rochefort is at Paris: I do pity that sweet woman; wretch that he is, not to fly to comfort her. Tell me all about your theatricals. When do you go to town? When will Almack's want you? How goes on the feud with old Lochaber? I shall fly from Glenmore as soon as I can; but they want me to play at picquet with my little aunt, while her dear old lord takes his nap of an evening! No news of Killarney that I can hear; lord George knows nothing about him, so I did not mention what I had heard. Je vous baise les mains, ma chère Comtesse, and am ever,

• Your devoted servant,

‹ Hazlemere.'

What a very accomplished woman lady Tresilian seems!' said Louisa one day, to lady Anne, as they were walking round the shrubbery in the afternoon.

'Yes, indeed, accomplished at the extremities; as my grandmother used to say of any girl who played or danced well.'

A charming countenance she has! so full of genius and expression. I thought last night when she was singing Di tanti palpati,' that she looked like an angel.'

Dear! did you?' said lady Anne; well I know nothing of angels, if she is one. And now, pray what you think of her dress, Louisa? what says your French taste to that?'

Oh! I cannot defend her dress, certainly; so handsome as she is, to make such a figure of herself, it is quite extraordinary; particularly one who studies the antique so much.'

That is the very reason: she is always trying for effect: so to-day she dresses after a Murillo; to-morrow, perhaps, she will be Reubens's wife. In the morning, she is Mary queen of Scots

or the Lady of the Lake; in the evening, Raphael's madonna or Titian's mistress. That is what I call thorough bad taste: like an actress or an artist, if you please, but not a fit style for a woman of fashion.'

The French would suppose she was in a costume,' said Louisa; 'they have often said to Englishwomen, Madame est en masquerade.' '

And they are quite right,' said lady Anne; it is, to my fancy, the extreme of bad taste to dress differently from other people. Such affectation spoils beauty, and makes ugliness more conspicuous.'

Well! I give up her dress; but, my dear lady Anne, if you never admire any Englishwoman who does not dress well!'

'I shall not have many to admire, I suppose you mean to say, my dear Parisian belle ;-but now, really, do you think lady Tresilian so very agreeable?'

'Indeed I do she has so much eloquence and enthusiasm in her conversation, such a memory for poetry.'

Oh! she make me sick of learning and quotation. Lady Glenmore's nonsense is far more amusing, because it is so perfectly natural. After one of lady Tresilian's grand bravuras, sung with so much science and skill, one of little Rosa's Indian airs or Irish melodies is such a treat; your own Venetian barcarolles, and French romances, never sound to so much advantage.'

'I do not think the dutchess and lady Mary suit lady Tresilian,' observed Louisa.

How should they! all their ideas are centred in feeding poultry, and potting plants; accomplishments they think waste time, and learning in a woman quite wicked; it belongs to the men along with their dress.'"

So much for amusements and good feeling among the "distingués" in the country. The following furnishes a curious sketch of manners among the same privileged class. Lady Glenmore is one of the most amiable and least exceptionable of the coterie-the youthful wife of a very respectable old marquess, in the fair way of an heir:

"In the evening, lady Glenmore was much fatigued; and, according to the fashion of the present day for ladies in her delicate situation, she lay on the sofa all her length, and, much to the dismay of the dutchess, she did not even think of changing her position when the servants came in with coffee. Lady Norbury was all attention, raising and lowering the cushions according to the fancy of the little marchioness, who talked a great deal of childish nonsense upon the occasion; at length she exclaimed, 'Oh! lady Anne; do you know I have got a promise from my lord, that I shall go to Almack's when I am in town? that is, if I am pretty well. I told him I would lie on the sofa now as long

as he pleased, if he would promise me that; and so he did, and I took care to have a written agreement about it. I do so long to go there; and I am to know lady Hauton too, and I hear she is so agreeable." "

One of her ladyship's dearest friends, domesticated under her roof, thus characterizes lady Norbury and her daughter lady Anne:

“Oh, there's no telling about them. Lady Anne is all caprice; and lady Norbury so uncommonly odd,-if they don't get on with other people, she will very likely patronise them in order to be singular; just now she abominates them all, because my lord has taken them up. However, Miss Birmingham is really a handsome girl; I saw her at that election ball at Merton last week. She is the sworn friend of these Mildways; and now that this colonel Montague is in such high favour here, and brought forward by them, the whole coterie may very likely advance; indeed, I, for one, expect it.' "

But it is seen anon, that her ladyship is even with her guests.

"Well, thank God! at last they 're all gone," said lady Norbury, with more vivacity than was common to her. I must say, company in the country is a great fatigue; playing at conversation all day long is such a bore. Now I shall have time to answer some letters before we go to town.'"

It would seem, indeed, that the ladies of ton, young and old, are very free spoken. The following samples will suffice-the first is from the conversation of two young ladies:—

“Odious man!' said Louisa, with indignation; how you make me hate him! And pray, lady Anne, what sort of person is the famous lord Killarney, lord George's brother?'

Oh, I must say nothing against him, for you know, or perhaps you do not know, that he is the man, mamma, in her secret heart, would like me to marry: from my very cradle I have been set out for him. He is very handsome, very agreeable, very good for nothing, very extravagant-the greatest roué in Europe, perhaps. No one can withstand him, man or woman. If you believe me, he has neither principles nor honour; he is the soul of whim and pleasure; every thing by starts, and nothing long. Conceive what a prospect before me, to expect to be the wife of such a man! cold water thrown on every proposal that has hitherto been made to me, that I may remain single till his return, that he may throw his handkerchief at his poor cousin's feet, if he pleases :this is the fate reserved for Anne Norbury; and my haughty mother will not care if I should break my heart, so that I hold my head high as marchioness of Allandale. Ah! Louisa, I could envy you your brighter prospects, for George'would make any

woman happy. Killarney has been years abroad, but he is soon expected home. Report says he has some woman of fashion travelling with him as his mistress, to whom he is entirely devoted. He went abroad after a crim. con. affair; he was unable to pay the damages, and he refused to marry the victim of his perfidy. But, hark! I hear these men again; let us avoid them. How late we have stayed out by the light of the moon! there is the dressing-bell;' and her ladyship turned into the vestibule, repeating, in a careless manner,

'Je vais donner une heure au soin de mon empire,

Et le reste du jour sera tout à Zaire.""

This is nothing, however, to the Queen of Almack's, lady Hauton take the following sketch of lady Stavordale, one of the Regency of Almack's:

"Foremost in rank is the dutchess of Stavordale, who is as good-natured as she is fat-c'est beaucoup dire, you will allowbut without dignity or spirit; but she is the most popular of the Patronesses, because she cannot be high to any body: Enfin, c'est une mère de famille, without fashion or pretension.

She is just fit

The following colloquy takes place between her ladyship and a fashionable colonel and his friend, at the first public night, at Almack's, on the entrance of lady Glenmore:

"Does not your ladyship think there may be some danger of the accouchement taking place at Almack's?' said the everlasting gossip Leach.

Fie! you naughty man!' replied the Countess.

'Let us put it about,' said Trefusis. A young lord Grandison produced in Willis's rooms! Your ladyships would be obliged to be godmothers. He would be patronised from his birth, né coiffé !"

We might quote a great number of similar witticisms upon the situation of the little marchioness, who, though altogether an amiable woman, and the wife of a most respectable man, seems to be introduced into the work for no other purpose than to afford a subject for these delicate allusions. But we refrain, in the apprehension of making our male readers blush. The last stage of profligacy in females is indicated by grossness in conversation. We should hope, for the credit of English manners, that the tone of conversation which pervades the whole of these volumes, is exaggerated; and for the credit of English morals, that the system of educating young women of fashion, for the sole purpose of throwing them away upon young rakes and old debauchees of rank and fortune, is not so prevalent as VOL. I.-NO. 1.

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